In dry or colder climates, it is often desirable to add moisture to the air that is inside of an enclosed space such as a building in order to maintain suitable humidity levels. There are a variety of products on the market today that employ various techniques to provide humidification including, for example, steam injection, water atomization, and evaporation. Such humidifiers are often used in conjunction with forced air residential and commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
A steam type humidifier typically heats water to make steam, and then provides the steam into a desired air stream, such as a duct of a forced air HVAC system. Such steam humidifiers are typically connected to a water source of the building, and draws the water from the water source into a water tank. The water in the water tank is then heated to produce steam. In many cases, the water contains certain impurities such as certain minerals, chemicals and/or other impurities. When this water is boiled, some or all of the impurities tend to be left behind, and if not properly removed, can build up and ultimately clog the humidifier.
What would be desirable, therefore, is a steam humidifier that includes an auto-cleaning feature for automatically cleaning the impurities and/or other byproducts from the steam humidifier, while still operating the humidifier in an efficient manner.